In fact, the Sun is doing a slow-motion explosion. It is shedding about 600
million tons every second in light energy, and it is loosing about 100
trillionth of its mass every year in the so-called solar wind. Here is a
satellite photo of obne of these mass ejections seen by the SOHO satellite on
December 2, 2003:
But the sun will never blow up the way we think of a genuine explosion. It is
the wrong kind of star to be either a nova or a supernova.
The energy of the Sun, the thermonuclear fusion which produces all the heat
and light, is occurring in the core of the Sun. The weight of all the mass in
the Sun in the overlying layers is so enormous that the Sun is in an equilibrium
state where the internal thermal pressure is balanced by the gravitational
pressure directed inwards.
Return to Dr. Odenwald's FAQ page at the Astronomy Cafe Blog.